PRIESTS PAGE
METROPOLITAN PHILIP (Saliba)
Born: June 10, 1931, Abou Mizan, Lebanon
Educated:
-
Balamand Orthodox
Theological Seminary,
Tripoli (Lebanon), 1945-47 - Orthodox Secondary School, Homs (Syria), 1947-49
- Assiyah College, Damascus (Syria), 1949-51
- Kelham Theological School, Nottinghamshire (England), 1953
- University of London, London (England), 1954,
- Holy Cross Greek Orthodox Seminary, Boston/Brookline, MA, 1956
- Wayne State University, Detroit, MI, 1956-69 (B.A. in History)
- St. Vladimir's Orthodox Theological Seminary, Crestwood, NY, 1965-65; M.Div.
Ordained:
- Deacon, August 6, 1949
- Priest, March 1, 1959, by Metropolitan Antony Bashir.
- Archimandrite, June 1966, by Metropolitan Ilyas Kurban
- Archbishop, August 14, 1966, at St. Elias Monastery Lebanon, by Patriarch Theodosios VI; enthroned in New York October 13th
Ministry:
- Secretary to Patriarch Alexander III (1949-53)
- Dean of Students and Lecturer in Arabic Language and Literature, Balamand Seminary, Tripoli, Lebanon (1952)
- Deacon, St. George Church, Detroit, MI (1956-59)
- Pastor, St. George Church, Cleveland, OH (1959-64)
- Archbishop of New York and North America (1966-), overseeing some 159 parishes
- Founds Antiochian Orthodox Christian Women of North America (A.O.W.C.N.A.: 1973)
- Founds Order of St. Ignatius of Antioch (1975)
- Purchases Antiochian Village property, Ligonier, PA (1978)
- Founds St. Stephen's Course of Theological Studies (1980)
- Accepts into Orthodoxy the Antiochian Evangelical Orthodox Mission (1987),
- Founds Antiochian House of Studies (1992)
BISHOP ANTHONY
Fr. Anthony was born Richard Anthony Michaels on the feast day of St. Anthony the Great (January 17, 1956) to parents Anthony and Gertrude Michaels and was baptized at St. Symeon the Stylite (also St. Simon the Zealot is commemorated) Antiochian Orthodox Christian Church in Ironwood, Michigan. Rick was raised with his sister, Joanne, and brother, Craig. The Orthodox church in Ironwood is pan-Orthodox and, therefore, included all ethnic Orthodox communities in the city. Fr. Anthony’s father is Lebanese and his mother is Serbian. As a teen-ager, he was active in all varsity athletics at Ironwood High School, including his role as the starting quarterback of his football team.
Fr. Anthony attended the University of Michigan where he received his B.A. in Literature, Science and the Arts, having a double major in History and English literature. He graduated Magna Cum Laude. Following his university degree he attended St. Vladimir’s Orthodox Theological Seminary in Crestwood, NY, where he graduated as a valedictorian of his class. He earned an M.Div. from that seminary. Besides English, he has a reading knowledge of biblical Greek and is currently learning Arabic, at the request of His Eminence Metropolitan Philip.
He taught modern philosophy at Gogebic Community College in Ironwood, Michigan before becoming a pastoral assistant and youth director at St. Nicholas Antiochian Orthodox Christian Church in Montreal, Quebec, Canada for two years. He and fellow seminarian, Fr. Patrick Kinder, held positions of youth coordinators at St. George Antiochian Orthodox Christian Church in Akron, Ohio, while they toured the country giving concerts and retreats while with the group KERYGMA. Fr. Anthony also spent two years based in Nashville, Tennessee, at St. Ignatius Antiochian Orthodox Church in Franklin, Tennessee, recording for KERYGMA with Fr. Patrick and Fr. Michael (Alan) Shanbour. Fr. Anthony has lectured extensively in North America, giving lectures to youth groups and as a speaker at church retreats for various jurisdictions besides his own, the Self-Ruled Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America.
Fr. Anthony was ordained to the diaconate on September 18, 2004, and to the priesthood on September 19, 2004, at St. George Antiochian Orthodox Church in West St. Paul, Minnesota, under the pastorate of the Very Rev. John Khoury, of blessed memory, and by the laying on of hands of Bishop Antoun. He was able to serve his home parish for seven months before he was given his current assignment to lead the faithful of St. John Chrysostom Church in Fort Wayne, Indiana.
Fr. Anthony inspired and oversaw the design and construction of the new church facilities at St. John Chrysostom Church in Fort Wayne. On the sixth anniversary of his ordination to the Holy Priesthood, he had the great honor of hosting Metropolitan Philip for the consecration of the new church on September 19, 2010, at which time he was elevated to the dignity of Archimandrite by the laying on of hands of the Metropolitan. He was subsequently appointed dean of the Indiana Deanery by Metropolitan Philip.
Fr. Anthony continues his pastoral ministry in Fort Wayne, providing a consistent liturgical life for the faithful. It is his honor to serve the parish family of St. John Chrysostom Church.
Very Rev. Fr. Amin Houli
Father Amin Houli was born in Damascus, Syria in 1964. He received his degree of theology at Balamand University in Tripoli, Lebanon and continued his education at the theological school in Athens, Greece. Father Houli speaks fluent Arabic, Greek, and English. He is happily married to Khouria Rena, he is blessed with two children, Theodora and Nicholas. Some of his hobbies include swimming , reading, and his ultimate passion, spreading the word of God.
Before arriving at St. James, Father Houli served as a deacon at St. Mary Livonia located in Detroit, Michigan. On February 6, 2005 he was ordained a priest by Bishop Mark of Toledo and became pastor at St. Catherine mission in Ann Arbor, Michigan. On July 17, father Amin officially became the priest of St. James.
During the 2009 Midwest Parish Life Conference, Fr. Amin was elevated to the rank of Arch Priest. May God grant him many years.
Periodically we will post an excerpt about the life of an Apostle
Apostle Bartholomew
Commemorated on June 11
The Holy Apostle Bartholomew was born at Cana of Galilee and was one of the Twelve Apostles of Christ. After the Descent of the Holy Spirit on the Day of Pentecost, it fell by lot to the holy Apostles Bartholomew and Philip (November 14) to preach the Gospel in Syria and Asia Minor. In their preaching they wandered through various cities, and then met up again. Accompanying the holy Apostle Philip was his sister, the holy virgin St Mariamnne.
Traversing the cities of Syria and Myzia, they underwent much hardship and tribulations, they were stoned and they were locked up in prison. In one of the villages they met up with the Apostle John the Theologian, and together they set off to Phrygia. In the city of Hieropolis by the power of their prayers they destroyed an enormous viper, which the pagans worshipped as a god. The holy Apostles Bartholomew and Philip with his sister confirmed their preaching with many miracles.
At Hieropolis there lived a man by the name of Stachys, who had been blind for 40 years. When he received healing, he then believed in Christ and was baptized. News of this spread throughout the city, and a multitude of the people thronged to the house where the apostles were staying. The sick and those beset by demons were released from their infirmities, and many were baptized. The city prefect gave orders to arrest the preachers and throw them in prison, and to burn down the house of Stachys. At the trial pagan priests came forth with the complaint that the strangers were turning people away from the worship of the ancestral gods.
Thinking that perhaps some sort of magic power was hidden away in the clothes of the apostles, the prefect gave orders to strip them. But St Mariamne became like a fiery torch before their eyes, and none dared touch her. They sentenced the saints to death. The Apostle Philip was crucified upside down. Suddenly there was an earthquake, and a fissure in the earth swallowed up the prefect of the city, together with the pagan priests and many of the people. Others took fright and rushed to take down the apostles from the crosses. Since the Apostle Bartholomew had not been suspended very high, they soon managed to take him down. The Apostle Philip, however, had died. After making Stachys Bishop of Hieropolis, the Apostle Bartholomew and St Mariamne left the city and moved on.
Preaching the Word of God, Mariamne arrived in Lykaonia, where she peacefully died (February 17). The Apostle Bartholomew went to India, where he translated the Gospel of Matthew into their language, and he converted many pagans to Christ. He also visited Greater Armenia (the country between the River Kura and the upper stretches of the Tigrus and Euphrates Rivers), where he worked many miracles and healed the daughter of King Polymios from the demons afflicting her. In gratitude, the king sent gifts to the apostle, who refused to accept them, saying that he sought only the salvation of the souls of mankind.
Then Polymios together with his wife, daughter, and many of those close to them accepted Baptism. And people from more than ten cities of Greater Armenia followed their example. But through the intrigues of the pagan priests, the Apostle Bartholomew was seized by the king's brother Astiagus in the city of Alban (now the city of Baku), and crucified upside down. But even from the cross he did not cease to proclaim the good news about Christ the Savior. Finally, on orders from Astiagus, they flayed the skin from the Apostle Bartholomew and cut off his head. Believers placed his relics in a leaden coffin and buried him.
In about the year 508 the holy relics of the Apostle Bartholomew were transferred to Mesopotamia, to the city of Dara. When the Persians seized the city in 574, Christians took the relics of the Apostle Bartholomew with them when they fled to the shores of the Black Sea. But since the enemy overtook them there, they were compelled to leave the coffin behind, and the pagans threw it into the sea. By the power of God the coffin miraculously arrived on the island of Lipari. In the ninth century, after the taking of the island by the Arabs, the holy relics were transferred to the Neapolitan city of Beneventum in Italy, and in the tenth century part of the relics were transferred to Rome.
The holy Apostle Bartholomew is mentioned in the Life of St Joseph the Hymnographer (April 4). Having received from a certain man part of the relics of the Apostle Bartholomew, St Joseph conveyed them to his own monastery near Constantinople, and he built a church in the name of the Apostle Bartholomew, placing in it a portion of the relics. St Joseph ardently desired to compose hymns of praise in honor of the saint, and he fervently besought God to grant him the ability to do so.
On the Feast day in memory of the Apostle Bartholomew, St Joseph saw him at the altar. He beckoned to Joseph and took the holy Gospel from the altar table and pressed it to his bosom with the words, "May the Lord bless you, and may your song delight the whole world." And from that time St Joseph began to write hymns and canons to adorn not only the Feast day of the Apostle Bartholomew, but also the Feast days of many other saints, composing about 300 canons in all. Sts John Chrysostom, Cyril of Alexandria, Epiphanius of Cyprus and certain other teachers of the Church regard the Apostle Bartholomew as being the same person as Nathanael (John 1:45-51, 21:2).
Info copied from OCA